Chinese-built ghost town in Angola

Now, state-owned China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) has built a town in Angola. And it’s fairly empty.

Just outside Angola’s capital city of Luanda is Nova Cidade de Kilamba a residential development of 750 eight-story apartment buildings, a dozen schools, and more than 100 retail units, reports the BBC’s Louise Redvers.

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The US$3.5-billion development covers 12,355 acres and was built to house about 500,000 people, and this is one of “several satellite cities being constructed by Chinese firms around Angola,” writes Redvers.

Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos has touted the ‘Kilamba social housing project’ as an example of his social policy, and he has brought international policymakers including Chinese vice-president Xi Jinping to the site.

But the apartments in the complex cost somewhere between US$120,000 and US$200,000 according to online advertisements cited by BBC. Other anecdotal reports put the price of 3-bedroom apartment at about US$250,000.

None of which helps the average Angolan given the country’s per capita GDP of US$5,144 per year, according to the World Bank.

And let’s not forget, Angola serves as China’s largest source of oil in Africa. Some like energy expert @pcdunham speculate this could be in preparation for oil money that is expected once the country begins developing new oil discoveries.

We pooled together some images we found of this ghost town from news reports and from this non-profit’s Facebook page to give you a look at the Kilamba housing project.